Ryan and Todd investigate the concept of the quilting point (point de capiton), as originally coined by Jacques Lacan and then in additional permutations. They attempt to develop this concept in further directions that challenge Lacan's original theorization of it in order to uncover its political efficacy.

Quilting Point

ACFM reunite for spooky season with one thing on their minds: the horror, the horror!

Nadia, Jeremy and Keir embark on a historical, literary and cinematic exploration of scary stuff. Why do (some) humans love to be terrified? What can horror teach us about the nature of the universe? What do the latest crop of scary movies say about the fears plaguing our society?

From Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Jordan Peele's 'Get Out', from H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror to Sigmund Freud's idea of the uncanny, the gang discuss books and ideas spanning several centuries – along with music from Bauhaus, Gravediggaz and Metallica.

An ever-expanding playlist of all the music discussed on the show can be found on Spotify – just search ACFM. Remember you can find the  version of this show on Novara Media's SoundCloud.


Books: Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness / Sigmund Freud – The Uncanny / Susan Hill – The Woman in Black / Stephen King – On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft / H.P. Lovecraft – Various / Paul Santilli – 'Culture, Evil, and Horror’ / Mary Shelley – Frankenstein / Bram Stoker – Dracula / Horace Walpole – The Castle of Otranto / H.G. Wells – The War of the Worlds

Films: Everything Everywhere All At Once / Get Out / Halloween / Invasion of the Bodysnatchers / Night of the Living Dead / Poltergeist / Rosemary's Baby / White Zombie

Music: Dave Matthews Band - 'Halloween' / Bauhaus - 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' / Warren Zevon - 'Werewolves of London' / Jegsy Dodd - 'A Scouse Werewolf in London' / Metallica - 'Enter Sandman' / Ray Parker Jr - 'Ghostbusters' / Gravediggaz - 'Diary of a Madman' / Insane Clown Posse - 'Hocus Pocus' / Black Sabbath - 'Paranoid'

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS Licence Number: LE-0016481

ACFM Trip 28: Horror

On Sunday, the World Cup kicks off in Qatar. How did a tiny dictatorship with a dismal human rights record, deadly summer temperatures and barely any football infrastructure end up hosting the world's biggest tournament? And what's a leftwing fan going to do about it?

Keir Milburn (Leeds United) and Tom Williams (Southampton) tackle the controversy in Pro Revolution Soccer – a five-part podcast series launching on 18 November. Tune in every Friday for expert guests and political punditry you won't find anywhere else. 

Head to novara.media/football for more.
Music by Matt Huxley. Produced by Chal Ravens.

Novara Audio: Radio For A Different Politics

Pro Revolution Soccer: Coming 18 November

After the 2008 financial crisis, a vast number of people were booted from the formal labour market. Many of them ended up in the gig economy: Uber, Deliveroo, Fiverr. Their exploitation at the hands of these platforms is well known, but often overlooked are the processes of racialisation that contribute to this reorganisation of labour power.

In this episode, Eleanor Penny talks to TyskySour co-host Dalia Gebrial about her PhD research into what she terms 'racial platform capitalism'. Looking at Uber drivers and nannies in particular, Dalia explains how 'the racial fix' is used to justify the surveillance and punishment of a disposable workforce, and how Britain's imperial past has produced a lineage of exploitation stretching 'from plantation to platform'.

Dalia's paper, 'Racial platform capitalism: Empire, migration and the making of Uber in London', is available to read online at Sage Journals.

Novara FM: From Plantation to Platform w/ Dalia Gebrial

As Wales crash out of the World Cup after defeat against England, Keir Milburn and Tom Williams question their dedication to international football. After all, how can you support a national team if you don't believe in borders?

On the third episode of Pro Revolution Soccer, Keir and Tom are joined by writer and broadcaster David Goldblatt, author of acclaimed football history tome The Ball Is Round, to discuss football as a national culture. Is cheering for England inherently jingoistic? Or can football be the bedrock of a popular progressive identity – one that no longer feels the need to mention the war when England play Germany? David explores the political potential of the current squad and reflects on the varied responses to Qatar '22 around the world.

Pro Revolution Soccer is out every Friday until the World Cup final.

Produced by Chal Ravens. Music by Matt Huxley. Design by Pietro Garrone.

Pro Revolution Soccer Ep 3: Should You Support Your National Team?

Jeremy Gilbert returns to PTO for the final part of our conversation on his new book, co-authored with Alex Williams, Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (and How We Win it back). In this part of our conversation we talked about some of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's key concepts, including the assemblage and multiplicity, and how their ideas inform Jeremy and Alex's understanding of political change and left strategy.

Hegemony Now (part three) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert

What is it about Twitter that turns us into such objectionable creatures? What has social media done to the language we use and the way we interact with each other? Ash Sarkar talks to Richard Seymour, author of The Twittering Machine, about the state of social media: tweets, memes, grief trolling, outrage porn, duckface, Spidermen and Jorts the Cat. Could our urge to tweet be diverted towards a more politically useful kind of writing?

Downstream: Twitter's Toxic Downfall w/ Richard Seymour

Cory Doctorow — returning champion, friend of the show, and author of the new novel Red Team Blues — joins us to chat about fiction (science), finance (crypto), forensics (accounting), and much more. You never knew forensic accounting could be so radical and thrilling, but Red Team Blues is an immanent critique of techno-financial capitalism in the guise of a page ripping novel. We cover a lot of ground, all of it fascinating, as we always do when Cory comes on TMK.

••• Buy Red Team Blues: https://craphound.com/shop/
••• Follow Cory: https://twitter.com/doctorow 
••• Cory’s blog: https://pluralistic.net/ 

Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills   

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

257. Red Team Blues (ft. Cory Doctorow)

NTR070 - Live in Accord [sample]

Many people would agree that corporations have undue influence over our democracies. But exactly how this influence is exerted is tricky to work out - and that is by design. Behind innocuous-sounding acronyms and worthy-sounding trade agreements are the real cogs that allow the global corporate machine to corrupt societies. Our guest this week Matt Kennard has spent the last two years investigating these cogs.

In his new book, ‘Silent Coup’, he and co-author Claire Provost relay shocking examples of how corporations exert, expand and consolidate control over the lives of practically everyone in the world.

Downstream: How Corporations Control the Government w/ Matt Kennard

Several years ago, Jon Moses realised that the stunning nature he could see from his house in rural Herefordshire was inaccessible to him. From the nearby riverbanks to the local oak woodlands, the countryside revealed itself to be a private fortress.

Now, as an organiser of the Right To Roam campaign, he's leading the call for free and fair access to land and water throughout England, via political advocacy and planned trespasses on private estates.

Jon tells Eleanor Penny about the traumatic history that separated commoners from the land, the dangers of a rural monoculture, and why the left needs to get comfortable with ideas about place and belonging.

Pro Revolution Soccer: Coming 18 November

Novara Media

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